Centrifugal pump



Feb.l 76,1940;

QTKEN 2,189,081

CENTRIFUGAL'PUMP Filed Oct. 19, 1938 HWENTOR,y

Edwin. *Jv- Ozfken BY E g 1 "M ATTO EY.

Patented Feb. 6,1940f CENTRIFUGAL PUMP Edwin J.`0tken, Brooklyn, N. Y.,assignor to Good Humor Corporation of America, Brooklyn, N. Y.,

a corporation of Ohio Y Application October 19,1938, Serial No.r,235,749

" 1 Claim. (C1. 10a-103)@ 'I'his invention relatesto'a newand usefulpackingless shaft bearing seal. Its object is to effectively seal ashaft-bearing against leakage therethrough under conditions wherepacking of any sort is undesirable. It was devised expressly for usey indairies and ice-cream plants, in connection with pumps for circulatingmilk, icecream mix and other liquid dairy products, but may be used withequal .advantage in any situation in which the presence of a packing isdetrimental to the product, or is otherwise unsatisfactory orundesirable.

Another feature of the invention, also of extreme importance wherefrequent removal of the shaft occurs, is that such operation-s are in noway affected by and are not detrimental to the seal.

Another advantage is that the seal, unlike most packing materials, has apractically unlimited life and consequently eliminates the necessity offrequent renewal. In addition, the seal in use tends to become moreeffective as time goes on.- It 1s also very inexpensive to make andcosts nothing whatsoever for maintenance.

In dairies and ice-cream plants, milk and other liquid dairy productsare usually transported from one point to another through pipe lines,the propelling impulse being provided by pumps. To avoid contaminationby bacteria and dirt, the maximum of sanitary conditions must bemaintained. 'I'his requires that al1 parts of the apparatus coming incontact with the milk or other material be sterilized at least daily. Asa general rule, sterilization can be effected only by disassembling theapparatus; therefore, all parts thereof must be readily detachable,separable, and replaceable. These requirements and theadvantages`enumerated above are found in this invention, one form ofwhich is illustrated by the drawing, which is a front elevation, partlyin section, of a pump adapted for the propulsion of milk, or otherliquids, to the shaft of which the packingless seal of this inventionhasbeen applied.

As shown, the pump consists of a housing I, attached to any suitablefixed support 2 by means of studs 3 and wing-nuts 4. In the interior ofhousing I is a pump-chamber 5. The liquid, derived from a tank, or othersource, enters the pump through inlet 1 and is discharged through outlet8. The inlet side of the pump-housing consists of a,removable plate 9held tightly in position by a hinged yoke I0 and bolt and wingnut II.The impeller 6 is driven by shaft I2 con nected to any suitable sourceof power (not shown). Shaft I2 before .entering the purnpchamber alsopasses through abearing I3 in housing I. Preferably, Athe connectionbetween shaft I2 and impeller 6 and also between shaft and the source ofpower is such that the impeller 5 can be easily separated from the shaftand the shaft from the source of power. For example, as shown, both endsof shaft I2 are slotted, one end slipping over the impeller 6 and theother engaging with a suitable pin or key in the-coul0 pling between itand the source of power.

To preventleakage through bearing I3 of the liquid being pumped, thebearing Would ordinarily be provided with some sort of a packing. Thisis rendered unnecessary by thisinvention. Instead, the face I5 ofbearing I3 is carefully formed, preferably by grinding smooth and atright-angles to the shaft I2. Shaft I2 is provided with a collar I'lwhichI may be integral with the shaft or shrunk or pressed thereon, andpermanently secured in position by a pin I6, or otherwise. The face I8of the cpllar I1 is adapted to bear accurately against surface I5 ofbearing I3. The opposite face of collar I'l is engaged by one end of aspring I9, the other end of which engages another collar 20 slidablymounted up'- on shaft I2. Pressure is maintained upon collar 20 in anysuitable way so that through spring I9 collar I'I will be forced againstbearing I3 withy sufficient force to insure an adequate liquid seal 80between'them. 'I'he means shown in the drawing for applying thispressure is a simple bushing 2| fixed to the bracket 2v and surroundingshaft I2.

With this construction not only is the bearing made liquid-tight withoutthe use of the packing materials, but the pump with its shaft may bedetached from its support by removing wing-nuts 4 and the shaft may beseparated from the pump simply by pulling it out of 'bearing 40 I3,which will also separate its Iendl from impeller 6. On the other hand,impeller 6 can be disconnected from the shaft and the interior of thepump-chamber exposed by removing cover 9, which leaves the rest of theassembly undis- 5 turbed. Thus every'part of the apparatus which cancome in contact even remotely with the liquid being pumped can beseparated from every other part for sterilization or other purpose, andcan be reassembled by simply reversing the process.

Since collar I1 is fixed to shaft I2 and must, therefore, rotate withit, Whereas bearing I3 is stationary, the collar I1 is self-seating sothat if the seal between the two is not absolutely perfectv at first,due to imperfections in manufacture, the seal will become perfect veryshortly 'and will, thereafter, be automatically maintained. This will beassisted by making the bearingY I3 of brass, cast iron, or other metalwhich is soft as compared with steel, which is the suggested materialfor collar,` I1. Any wear resulting from friction between the twosurfaces is automatically taken up by spring I9, as will also be thecase with respect to Awear between the other collar 20 and y attached tosaid shaft and making a substantially bushing 2| and the surfacesengaged lby spring I9. Adequate lubrication prevents excessive wearbetween faces I5 and I8 of bearing I3 and collarv I1, respectively, andis furnished byf-the liquid itself, which, since shaft I2 must be looseenoughto turn freely in bearing I3, will creep alongthe shaft until itis stopped by collar I1 and then outwardly between faces I5 and I 8. Theamount of this seepage may be so small that no observaisaosi A pump formilk and other dairy support by manually-removable fastenings, animpeller chamber in said housing, a shaft bearing in one side of saidhousing, a shaft rotatablyV which' includes a pump-housing attached to amounted in said bearing and projecting into said i impeller chamber, animpeller in said chamber operably associated with the end of-said shaftprojecting thereinto, ai manually-openable cio--` sure closing'the othersideof said housing, a sleeve liquid-tight joint with the end of thebearing in said housing, another sleeve slidably mounted on said shaftand engageable at one end with said support, a spring surrounding saidshaft and positioned under tension between said sleeves so endof'said'bearing, and a coupling between said shaft and a source ofmotive powerwhich rwill permit the shaft to be uncoupled from saidsource of power and from said impeller and to'be re- :moved from saidpump :housing when said pump` housing is disconnected from the support Yus'` x Y as tourge said first-mentioned sleeve against the

